Bernanke hints that he's tired of being Fed chairman

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s role overseeing the United States’ central bank could be over in under a year: the economist alluded this week to stepping down at the end of his current and second term.

Speaking at a routine press conference on Wednesday, Mr.
Bernanke hinted at ending his reign as chairman of the Fed as early
as next January, retiring from his role without seeking a third
term in office.

Should the chairman exit the bank early next year, he will
likely step away from the Fed before the policies he enacted to
revive the US economy are fully completed. Under Bernanke’s rule,
the Federal Reserve has launched several rounds of quantitative
easing, controversial programs that the chairman himself credits
with saving the economy. Critics, however, claim that these
programs are creating another market bubble that might result in as
much as $500 billion blown in only three years.

In September, Bernanke rolled out the third round of
quantitative easing, or QE3, a decision that involves spending $40 billion a
month on bond purchases while keeping interest rates at
near-record-low rates through at least mid-2015. If Bernanke elects
to avoid a third term, however, he will exit the bank before QE3 is
scheduled to end.

“I don’t think that I’m the only person in the world who can
manage the exit,” the chairman said during this week’s
conference.

At his last news conference on December 12, 2012, Bernanke said
that he had not “had any conversations” with US President
Barack Obama or members of his administration regarding plans for a
potential departure. On Wednesday, however, the chairman implied
that things have changed during the last four months. During this
week’s briefing, Bernanke admitted that he’s “spoken to the
president a bit” and feels no personal responsibility in
regards to asking for a third term in office.

Bernanke shied away from saying what opinion the president may
have as far as another term as chairman is concerned, but did say
that the commander-in-chief has bigger fish to fry at the moment in
terms of the US S economy.

“I think the president has got quite a few issues he needs to
be thinking about, from the fiscal cliff to many other appointments
and so on,” Bernanke said.

The New York Times reported last September that, according to
anonymous acquaintances of Bernanke, the chairman will likely not
seek a third term. Should he step down next January, that would
mean both the position of Federal Reserve chief and secretary of
the US Treasury would be up for the taking.

“That would be a one-two punch, with two of the most
important jobs in the nation up for grabs,” Times columnist
Andrew Sorkin wrote last year.